Summary: The prevailing definition of the human pygmy phenotype – when the average height of adult men in a population is < 155 cm – is both arbitrary and convenient. It is convenient because it links expression of the pygmy phenotype solely to foraging peoples within tropical rainforest habitats. The pygmy phenotype, by this definition, is also one of the most striking examples of convergent evolution in modern humans, as it has evolved independently at least three times globally. Yet the selective pressures that favored pygmy size are uncertain. This talk will explore how and why pygmy size evolved, and present new data from three populations to test the hypothesis that pygmy size conferred biomechanical advantages when hunting and gathering in tropical rainforests.

Nathaniel Dominy is the Charles Hansen Professor of Anthropology and Biological Sciences at Dartmouth College. His field research is focused on the foraging ecology and feeding mechanics of humans and nonhuman primates, with a particular emphasis on populations in Africa and Southeast Asia. He completed a BA at Johns Hopkins University (1998), a PhD at the University of Hong Kong (2001), and an NRSA (F32) Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of Chicago (2004). He is the recipient of grants and fellowships from the National Geographic Society, the Leakey Foundation, the Wenner-Gren Foundation, the National Science Foundation, and the David and Lucile Packard Foundation. He is a Senior Fellow in the Dartmouth Society of Fellows and he is an Elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Royal Geographic Society, and the Royal Anthropological Institute.

Some information on the speaker and a list of his publications can be found at http://biology.dartmouth.edu/people/nathaniel-j-dominy

The series featuring internal and external speakers takes place roughly every 1-2 months on Friday early afternoons. The committee organizing the seminar series consists of: Bret Beheim, Catherine Crockford, Stephanie Melillo, Mark Stoneking, Sandra Jacob and Jörg Noack. Please contact any of them with comments or suggestions.

Contact:
Sandra Jacob, -122 or -156

E-mail: jacob[>>> Please replace the brackets with an AT sign! <<<]eva.mpg.de

The neuronal and molecular basis of learning and memory in Drosophila larvaeSeptember 27, 2018 13:00
Speaker: Andreas Thum (Department of Genetics, Institute of Biology, Leipzig University)
Talk at the Department of Evolutionary Genetics